![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Anna Karenina, Chapter 1, first line, by Leo Tolstoy
Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell
Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often. ~Johnny Carson
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance, like flowers and sweet-scented herbs — is more elastic, starry, and immortal — that is your success.” H. D. Thoreau
Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” –Leo Buscaglia
Saying a prayer before meals quietly or with others acknowledges that my life depends on God's bounty and on a host of people who grew, processed, distributed, prepared, and served the food that gives me nourishment and delight. Saying a prayer by a hospital bed admits that my health rests in God's love as well as the skills of scientists and physicians and nurses and a host of people who maintain these places of care. And, yes, even sending a thank-you note, as mothers perhaps instinctively knew, is far more than social convention, but an awareness that the best gifts and thus much of the joy of life are not things we can give ourselves but come from beyond us as an alluring expression of love, even an invitation to love. Each thank you becomes a way to practice gratitude so that more and more our lives are weaned away from the myth of entitlement and the arrogance and isolation of independence. Each thank you becomes a way to practice gratitude so that more and more our lives are shaped by the truth of our belonging to others, even to Christ. Rev. John Thomas, http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=359
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
So we spent our Thanksgiving Day with our good friends Kim and Gale in Marion. They are like family to us already, and, since we've spent the last couple Thanksgivings with them, their families are familiar as well. Since they aren't technically our family, Molly and I can sit around and laugh at their family foibles. What fun! This year it was Kim's family: sister and family from Kentucky, brother from Indiana, and father. Such an interesting mix of people and personalities :) We enjoyed their family, since ours are both so far away.
Dinner was delicious, and we got to bring leftovers home :) Turkey and ham, stuffing and mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and vegetable casserole, peacan pie and pumpkin pie, cherry rum cake and coconut cake -- yum!
I called my family when I got home. They are doing okay. My mom will be having cataract surgery next Wednesday and then two weeks after that for the other eye. They had Thanksgiving dinner at the church. It is a really nice tradition of the Osceola Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church. Each year they hold a Thanksgiving dinner with all the usual foods (somewhat potluck style) for whomever would like to share in the meal and fellowship. It makes more sense than making a huge dinner for
just a few people. They also deliver meals to shut-ins. I fondly remember helping my grandpa deliver meals to shut-ins on those Thanksgiving we spent with my grandparents. After he passed on, I helped my grandma deliver the meals. She still does delivery. My brother never wants to just do the church meal. He wants the whole thing at home, but he doesn't help my mom clean or cook or clean again, so he gets overruled on that :)
Wednesday Molly and I went up to her job in Cleveland. She was able to spend the afternoon working on her Sunday School stuff, the bulletin, and the upcoming Christmas pageant. I got a little work done on papers. We went to dinner at a great restaurant called Chedders/Snickers, where I had some excellent macaroni and cheese and Molly had some lovely warm Numi Tea with her dinner, since the weather was turning cooler and rainy (had been up near 70, but there was some snow/ice pellets yesterday)!
Then we went to the ecumenical Thanksgiving service, in which Molly did the call to worship. It was a nice eclectic gathering, held at Franklin Circle Christian Church. The theme was celebrating the gifts of the city. I had forgotten the things I do like about cities, despite my discomfort with the size, crowds, and perception of danger. I do like the neighborhoods, the cultural activities, public transportation, community, etc. I enjoyed learning about that neighborhood of Cleveland -- Ohio City, esp. how it had been Mansion Row and how those mansions had been transformed into the social services for the community (orphanages, hospitals, YMCAs, undgerground railroad stops, etc.). I enjoy learning the history of the places I live. I really learned a lot about Iowa City when I lived there.
The pastor of Franklin Circle shared this poem during the meditation:
Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
This poem made me think about people I knew who have had their dreams deferred: a woman who waited more than 20 years (raising a family while married to a pastor) to get to seminary and become a pastor, even though she had been called at age 12; a friend who wanted to be a pediatrician and how worn down she looked doing something else, etc. I wonder if I am deferring my dreams and what my dreams really are. What are your dreams? Are you pursuing them or are they on hold? What other dreams have you discovered in the meantime?
I hope all of you are having a good week and weekend. We are looking forward to trying out our new couch tomorrow :) (Fingers crossed that it arrives.) Anyway, here is more of my collection to share: ( Sharing Quotes and Poetry )
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Anna Karenina, Chapter 1, first line, by Leo Tolstoy
Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell
Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often. ~Johnny Carson
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance, like flowers and sweet-scented herbs — is more elastic, starry, and immortal — that is your success.” H. D. Thoreau
Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” –Leo Buscaglia
Saying a prayer before meals quietly or with others acknowledges that my life depends on God's bounty and on a host of people who grew, processed, distributed, prepared, and served the food that gives me nourishment and delight. Saying a prayer by a hospital bed admits that my health rests in God's love as well as the skills of scientists and physicians and nurses and a host of people who maintain these places of care. And, yes, even sending a thank-you note, as mothers perhaps instinctively knew, is far more than social convention, but an awareness that the best gifts and thus much of the joy of life are not things we can give ourselves but come from beyond us as an alluring expression of love, even an invitation to love. Each thank you becomes a way to practice gratitude so that more and more our lives are weaned away from the myth of entitlement and the arrogance and isolation of independence. Each thank you becomes a way to practice gratitude so that more and more our lives are shaped by the truth of our belonging to others, even to Christ. Rev. John Thomas, http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=359
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
So we spent our Thanksgiving Day with our good friends Kim and Gale in Marion. They are like family to us already, and, since we've spent the last couple Thanksgivings with them, their families are familiar as well. Since they aren't technically our family, Molly and I can sit around and laugh at their family foibles. What fun! This year it was Kim's family: sister and family from Kentucky, brother from Indiana, and father. Such an interesting mix of people and personalities :) We enjoyed their family, since ours are both so far away.
Dinner was delicious, and we got to bring leftovers home :) Turkey and ham, stuffing and mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and vegetable casserole, peacan pie and pumpkin pie, cherry rum cake and coconut cake -- yum!
I called my family when I got home. They are doing okay. My mom will be having cataract surgery next Wednesday and then two weeks after that for the other eye. They had Thanksgiving dinner at the church. It is a really nice tradition of the Osceola Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church. Each year they hold a Thanksgiving dinner with all the usual foods (somewhat potluck style) for whomever would like to share in the meal and fellowship. It makes more sense than making a huge dinner for
just a few people. They also deliver meals to shut-ins. I fondly remember helping my grandpa deliver meals to shut-ins on those Thanksgiving we spent with my grandparents. After he passed on, I helped my grandma deliver the meals. She still does delivery. My brother never wants to just do the church meal. He wants the whole thing at home, but he doesn't help my mom clean or cook or clean again, so he gets overruled on that :)
Wednesday Molly and I went up to her job in Cleveland. She was able to spend the afternoon working on her Sunday School stuff, the bulletin, and the upcoming Christmas pageant. I got a little work done on papers. We went to dinner at a great restaurant called Chedders/Snickers, where I had some excellent macaroni and cheese and Molly had some lovely warm Numi Tea with her dinner, since the weather was turning cooler and rainy (had been up near 70, but there was some snow/ice pellets yesterday)!
Then we went to the ecumenical Thanksgiving service, in which Molly did the call to worship. It was a nice eclectic gathering, held at Franklin Circle Christian Church. The theme was celebrating the gifts of the city. I had forgotten the things I do like about cities, despite my discomfort with the size, crowds, and perception of danger. I do like the neighborhoods, the cultural activities, public transportation, community, etc. I enjoyed learning about that neighborhood of Cleveland -- Ohio City, esp. how it had been Mansion Row and how those mansions had been transformed into the social services for the community (orphanages, hospitals, YMCAs, undgerground railroad stops, etc.). I enjoy learning the history of the places I live. I really learned a lot about Iowa City when I lived there.
The pastor of Franklin Circle shared this poem during the meditation:
Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
This poem made me think about people I knew who have had their dreams deferred: a woman who waited more than 20 years (raising a family while married to a pastor) to get to seminary and become a pastor, even though she had been called at age 12; a friend who wanted to be a pediatrician and how worn down she looked doing something else, etc. I wonder if I am deferring my dreams and what my dreams really are. What are your dreams? Are you pursuing them or are they on hold? What other dreams have you discovered in the meantime?
I hope all of you are having a good week and weekend. We are looking forward to trying out our new couch tomorrow :) (Fingers crossed that it arrives.) Anyway, here is more of my collection to share: ( Sharing Quotes and Poetry )
Tags:
